


Nothing Says Christmas Like Murder

by lilsocks



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Gangs, Light Angst, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 08:16:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13072857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilsocks/pseuds/lilsocks
Summary: Detective Waverly Mead never liked the holidays so when Christmas rolls around she always throws herself into her work, as homicide is about the furthest thing form festive one can get. Then Satna has to go and be murdered in a way that should be impossible.Now it's up to Waverly and a redheaded detective with his own mysteries to figure out who killed Santa Clause on Christmas Eve





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas Everyone!

#  Thriller Bark Cemetary : 10:15 PM, December 24th 

Waverly didn’t mind working on Christmas Eve. Unlike her co-workers she doesn't have a family to visit, someone waiting for them at home, she had nothing. Working Homicide also was the best way to stay away from the festive cheer as there was nothing festive or joyous about murder. 

Although apparently this killer didn't get the memo and had to go kill Santa Clause, well at least someone who looked like Santa Claus. They had no I.D on the man and with so many lab techs being out tonight it would take a little longer than usual. It would also take longer to get the man back to the morgue. How the hell did the killer get a man as 'jolly' as him up there? By the blood running down the pike of the tall fence, Waverly could already tell that the man's cause of death was impalement. It wasn't a quick either as the man had been impaled in the gut.

“ Maybe he fell off his sled?”, A new voice suggests jokingly as an icebreaker.

Looking over to her left there a man standing beside her. He’s a good foot taller than Waverly and mabey all little more if she wasn't wearing heeled boots. He had a scar, like claw marks, running down his left eye. This wasn't the only old injury the man had. He also was missing an arm if that could be counted as a scar. Even though he was wearing a black trench coat Waverly's keen eye picked up on the missing limbs. Waverly wonders who this man was.

Taking another look around the crime scene sho too note of all the people who were there. She could tell that the officers and those wearing protective booties were working the crime scene. The handful of people who were standing outside the yellow tape looking at the body in morbid curiosity were all bystanders who had came along when the police started showing up. Taking a glance down at the man’s feet she sees that he too is wearing booties, so that means that he was working the crime scene. Waverly had never seen the man before so was new or from a different precinct?

“ Oh, where are my manners,” the man laughs nervous and turns so that he can outstretch his hand which is clad in a black leather glove to her,”I’m detective Cornell."

Waverly takes her hand and shakes it introducing herself,” Detective Mead .”

“ Mead? “, detective Cornell perks up,” I love Mead.”

Waverly suppressed an eye roll,” Most men do .”

Withdrawing her hand she turns her attention back to the body while stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket. Even though she too had gloves on, a brown leather pair, it was in the teens tonight. 

As Waverly turns her attention back to the crime scene she doesn't take notice of the way the redhead starets at her, he looks a little worried that he had said something to offend the detective. He is also happy too despite may have starting off on the wrong foot with the detective. Out of all the people who he could have been working this case with tonight, he was glad that it was someone like Waverly.He much prefers to have the company of a pretty lady when dealing with such gruesome matters. Not only that but the detective had a reputation for being one of the best rookie detectives in the city.

“So it’s going to be a while before we can get an I.D on the vic. “  
“ Really?”

Waverly gives the redhead and odd look. Since he was a detective he should already know that. Not unless he was new. Waverly feels her shoulder slump a little. Great, she had to work with a rookie on this case.

“ Yea, it’s Christmas Eve so getting someone to get the body down will take a few hours. There also weren't any whiteness around .”

Shanks rubs his stubble,” Do they knew how he got up there yet?”

Waverly shakes her head,” Let's go see if any of the crime techs found any tire impression for a crane or something .”

There no impressions that indicated that any machinery was used to get impale the man in the pike. There was some boot prints. a size 12 boot to be precise. It Wasn't much but at least now that detectives knew that they were looking for a big guy. Though they still didn't know where to start the search since there were no witnesses and they didn't know the I.D of Santa yet.

Waverley was taking one last good look at the vic before they would have back to the precinct and wait for the lab techs to do their thing. She guessed that he could spend the time getting caught up in some paperwork. Stepping back and Waverly looks around for Detective Cornell and saw him walking up to her with a stick in hand.

“ What are you doing?”, She demands tightly as he starts to poke the body with a stick.

Cornell only pauses for a brief moment to explain,“ Well besides fulfilling a childhood dream of mine I think I know how to I.D our Santa.”

Waverly watches the way detective Cornell’s tongue peaks the side of his mouth as he carefully pulls the back of the Santa's shirt up with this stick. Like a tramp stamp on his lower back, the man had a tattoo that makes this case that much more complicated. It was a jolly roger meaning that this man was in a gang. It was one she didn't recognize though.

“ I saw a hint of something on his lower back earlier. I can't say I've seen this jolly roger before but I know a man who may know more about it .”

“ Really?”

Detective Cornell's nods and tells Waverley,”Yea call it a hobby of mine. I like to keep up with gangs in the city.”

“ Peculiar hobby, but I see how it can come in handy. I’ll get the crime techs to get me some photos then we can go to whoever this person is who can I.D the body .”

“ Sounds good. I just hope he doesn't mind the police dropping by. Oh, maybe we should buy some booze for them .”

“ we’re not buying booze.”, Waverly quirky shoots the suggestions down and doesn't seem the least bit remorseful when she sees the hurt puppy look the redhead gives her.  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!

# Whitebeard Manner: 11:30 PM, December 24th

 

The last people that Marco or any of the rest of the Whitebeard family were suspecting to show up at their doorstep on Christmas Eve was red hair and a sour-faced detective. Marco eyes the man suspiciously and wonders what he was up to.Before he can even ask or say anything Shanks speaks

“ Good evening sir. I’m detective Cornell and he is detective Mead.”, Shanks shows him a police badge and I.D, obviously fake, and emphasize the name Cornell. So he was playing dress up tonight. Now Maro was really intrigued by what was going on.

“ Is it alright if we come in for a minute or two ?”, The woman asks straight-faced and like she had rehearsed the line many times before. Marco can tell that she’s nervous though and he doesn't blame her. The two were, after all, showing up at the Whitebeard’s family home unannounced and they were cops nonetheless. 

“ You two do know that it's Christmas Eve right ?”, Marco board asks crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe, not at all bothered by the cold outside nor seeming to have any plans to let the two in for said coldly.

“ Yes and we apologize for dropping unannounced like this but these are some important matters.”, Shanks urges.

The blond doesn't budge,“ Can't it wait until tomorrow ?”

“ Well, you see sir-”, shanks begin but is cut off by the other, real, detective.

“ Sir we don't want to be here any more than you want us here, but there has been a murder and Edward Newgate my be the only man who would be able to identify him right now.”

Both shanks and Marco were surprised by the girl. Shanks because he had told Detective Mead he would do all the talking and Marco because he had pegged the girl to be scared of the Whitebeards to talk. The blond smiles deciding that he liked the detective and that a few minutes away from the party wouldn't hurt anyone, especially if it helped solve a murder.

“Fine,” he leans back up, I’ll go get pops, you remember where his study is right, Detective Cornell?”

“ Of course I do sir.”

Waverly gives the detective an odd look as she followed him inside. Since when had the redhead been here before tonight. Was it for another case? This hobby of his? No, it had to be a case. The Whitebeard family would never let a law enforcement officer into their family home. 

“ You sure seem familiar with this place.”, Waverly notes as she follows the redhead head up the grand staircase.

“ I’ve been here a few times. “, He shrugs too casually rounding a corner into a long hallway.

“An officer of the law has been in the home of one of the largest gangs in the city ?” Waverly inquires clearly knowing that there as something more to this whole thing than Cornell was letting on.

“ Newgate can be the great company you know .”

“ Newgate if a crime lord you know”, Waverly counters.

Detective Cornell laughs,” Oh nice one.”

The study that Marco mention is a large one and Waverly expected nothing less from a man like Whitebeard. The detective could just imagine all the illegal dealings that went on in this room. Detective Cornell leads Waverly to one of the couches in the room to set down and wait for the others to arrive.

“ Shouldn't we set in front of his desk,” Waverly asks pointed a manicured index finger to the two chairs in front of the large mahogany desk.

Detective Cornell waved it off,”Nah, the old man just uses that desk to look professional. Really, it’s bad for his back.”

“Did you just call Newgate and old man?”

Detective Cornell looks like he had just been caught red-handed and tried to change the subject quickly,” I love the color by the way, very festive”

Waverly looks at the shade of red that painted her nails and frowns,” I hate festive.I also hate it when somebody tries to pull a fast one on me and change to subject. “

Cornell scratches his neck " well he is an old man ...”

“ He can also kill you with his bare hands and you have the gall to call him an old man ?”

In the middle of Cornell trying to think of something to say Whitebeard himself along with Marco and another Dark haired man comes into the room.

“ I see you’ve made yourself at home detective Cornell.” whitebeard address the redhead emphasizing his named the same way the detective himself had when he introduced them at the front door. 

“ Hope you don't mind .”,Cornell gives the towering mana polite smile.

“Not at all “, Whitebeard comes over to have a seat in front of them and Marco and the other unnamed man stand on either side of his chair looking just as intimidating as Newgate himself,” So my boys tell me you need help identifying a body .”

“Possibly,” detective Cornell takes out two photos from the inside pocket of his jacket then lays them out for Whitebeard to look at,” We found this body at Thriller Bark Cemetery. This Jolly Roger was found on is back and this was how we found him .”

Newgate examined the two photos than the detective that came with red hair. She was young, about Ace’s age. She was a little on the short side, but then again everyone was on the short side compared to him. Her light blond hair was pulled back in a low bun and her mocha eye was filled with a hatred of the world that was just a mask for a sorrow deep within her. It made the man wonder what had happened to make the detective feel such a sorrow in which she felt the need to hide from the world. 

a deep sigh release forms the large man as he settles back in his seat, “ That looks like Hawkins Jolly Roger. “

“ Are they a new gang?”, Waverly asks since she had not heard of any gang with that name.

"They're Part of the group of rookies that have been making names for themselves. Hawkins group wanted to Allie with us for a few weeks now, but because they just wanted a big power backing them we never made any move to .”, Marco explains.

“ He’s the quietest of that group or rookies.I can't really place the body either with that suit on .”

Waley was noticeably disappointed. At latest they new what gang the vic belonged to now. The only problem was that they didn't know where to find the Hawkins group. Out of this group of rookies they only knew the base of one, that not being Hawkins. Maybe they could squeeze a location out of Eustass, another of the rookies.Although , that seemed like more trouble than it was worth. 

“ What was the man doing dressed up like that ?”, The dark-haired man asked peering at the photos.

“ That's what we're still trying to figure out,” Waverly tells the man.

“ It's a shame that someone was murdered on Christmas Eve .”, Newgate notes.

“ Yes...real shame .”, waverly solemnly agrees and Shanks wonders of it’s because of the murder or something else.

Newgate wonders the same thing, but he is also wondering a lot more things. Like why shanks were playing dress up and what he was so interested in this murder. He has his theories as to why he's interested but won't say anything out loud since it's clear that the other detective has no idea who her parents really are.

“ Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy and family, not murder.”, Newgate counties.

‘That's why I volunteered to work tonight ‘, Waverley reminds herself

“ That's why someone murdering another even if they are a criminal or my enemy Is Unforgivable. So finding the one who did this is important. There's a small new age shop near Sabaody that the Hawkins gang use as their base. I can have Ace here get you the address.”

“ Really?”, Wavey asks 

Whitebeard gives the blond a nod and repeats himself,” As I said before this is something unforgivable and I want to see the one behind this brought to justice ….but I will only do this under one condition .”

Detective Cornell tenses up beside Waverly who is now listening more intently to the man’s conditions. It would be bad if he made Shanks tell the truth about wh he really was. 

“ Tell me, Waverly, why are you working tonight. Don’t you have a family to go home to?”. Newgate asks the blond who becomes noticeably tense by the question.

“ Well, you see sir i-it's just that ...It's just me sir .”

“ I see…”

Marco can't help but smirk because he had, unlike the other two men, just figured out what his pop’s condition was. Thought they were criminals it didn't mean that they were heartless. His pops also had a soft spot for loners like the detective.

“ After all this settles the one responsible for this, “ he points to the picture of the body,” Come back and have some eggnog yea.”

“ I-I don't want to intrude ..”

Newgate laughs,”Nonsense, even if you a cop I respect you strive to bring down people like this. So it doesn't matter if it’s at three in the morning or on Christmas day. Come back and see us.”

The redhead glances over to his side to see the blond's relation. Waverly was honestly at a loss for words. She had been trained to see these people as dangerous and no good, but here they wear inviting her back for eggnog on Christmas Eve. She couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.

“ Sir ... I'm a cop.”

“ So ? “, Newgate raises a brow,” At the end of the day we all children of the sea and besides it's Christmas and no one should spend it alone .”

Waverley was quiet for another moment before nodding her head ina hesitant manner,”Ok, once we get the perp I’ll come back to visit .”

Newgate let out another laugh happy to hear the detective agree,”Then why don't you go with Ace so that he can get you that address.I want to have some words with detective Cornell here.”

Waverly shoots the redhead worried look but he reassures her,” don't worry I’ll be fine. I’ll meet you at the car sight .”

“ ...Ok “, Waverly wasn't happy with leaving the redhead alone the crime lord and his first in command, but she feels that Whitebeard won't do anything.

Once Waverly has left with Ace whitebeard gets right down to business and asks the redhead,” Do you mind telling me why you’re playing dress up tonight Shanks?” 

" I'm just trying to stop a war ."

“I see….don't you think you’re being a little paranoid, a little too controlling maybe?”

“Maybe, but I just don't want to see this city destroyed by a war. ", Shanks leans forward,"You know as well as I and the other Yonko what a war between people like us can do to this city. What it can to innocent people like detective Mead.”

“ Speaking of which it seems that detective doesn't see to recognize your face yet.”

“She’s a rookie. A good one too.”

“ You know much about her ?”

“ Are you looking to add a daughter to your family?”

Whitbeard laughs but doesn't object to the idea,“ It’s just odd that a young one like herself doesn't have anyone spend Christmas with .”

Whitebeard had a point,” she seems a little prickly about the subject of the holidays too. “

“ Shame she feels that way about such time.”

Shanks rests his cheek and his palm trying to think what could have happened to make detective Mead feel the way she did about the holidays.,” Yes it is.”


End file.
